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ASIA PACIFIC TRAVEL'S NORTH KOREA TOURS ARE "ON" FOR 2009 ASIA PACIFIC TRAVEL has received confirmation from Pyongyang that Americans will be able to travel on tours to North Korea again in 2009. The good news is that we will be able to do this as usual in the fall Arirang "season". (Asia Pacific Travel is also able to arrange for citizens of other countries to continue to visit throughout the year as individuals or in small groups.) The 2009 "window" for Americans to travel to North Korea will be during the annual Arirang performance season from August 10 through September 30. If you are interested in a tour for 2009 but can't decide yet, please click on the "Contact Us" button above, filling in the requested information. You will be placed on our North Korea tour email list for updates on 2009's tours and any other significant developments. We had hoped to be allowed to stay for 8 days-7 nights in 2009, as opposed to the 5 days-4 nights tourists have been limited to for the last few years, but to date tourists are still limited to 5 days-4 nights in North Korea during the Arirang period. Click on the "Itineraries" button on the left panel to review all Asia Pacific Travel's North Korea tours for 2009 and learn what travel to the DPRK is like and what you will get to see. Unfortunately for those who are not able to wait until August-September, you (any nationality) were able to travel to two areas of North Korea, normally year-round, on group tours via Seoul but as of December 1, 2008, both destinations were closed due to disagreements between the North and the South. No resolution for these closures is in sight. These two areas are Kaesong, an old capital of Korea just across the DMZ from Seoul, and Kumgang, a scenic mountain area in southeast North Korea, again just across the DMZ. Kaesong day-tours operate every day except Mondays and cost about $225-250 per person (depending on the exchange rate). Tours to Kumgang operate daily, year-round and cost between $250 and $600 per person depending on the season, level of accommodation, exchange rate, etc. Normally one needs 3 days-2 nights, or even 4 days-3 nights as it takes a minimum of 6 hours each way from Seoul just to get there. Asia Pacific Travel is authorized by Hyundai Asan, the exclusive South Korean operator of both these tours, to book clients for them. Please contact the Asia Pacific Travel office if you are interested in either of these speical tours to North Korea as you do need to have a reservation in advance in order to be on the group visa list for a each tour. Also note that Hyundai Asan has been working with officials in North Korea to arrange overnight charter flight tours from Seoul to Mt. Paektu on the Chinese border but details have not been worked out yet to allow this to happen. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Welcome to Asia Pacific Travel's North Korea 1 on 1, your resource for thoughtful insights into the who, what, where, when and why of purposeful and memorable individual and small group travel and tours to North Korea (or as it is correctly called, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, the DPRK). Although this site, as a practical matter, is primarily for American and Canadian passport holders, citizens of other countries will find it useful as well and are welcome on our tours. The staff here at Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. has designed this website to give you some relevant information on travel to the DPRK and has included "recommended" activities based on over thirteen years of practical experience in North Korea travel. (Click on this hyperlink to learn more about our “background” with the DPRK.) If this is your first visit to an Asia Pacific Travel site, please take a minute to read through the helpful information below before you begin to explore other pages of "our North Korea." We know the photographs are nice, but please take some time to read the text as well. Travel to North Korea is serious business and requires an investment of time on your part to be sure things work smoothly, so that you get the most out of your trip. Can You Visit? The first thing you should know about North Korea is that travel there is not a simple matter, particularly for American citizens. In fact Americans normally can't go there. (Citizens of most other countries who recognize the DPRK, e.g., Canadians, Mexicans, Australians, British, etc., do not have this problem.) There is no problem from the U.S. government's side. (Click on this hyperlink to see the US Department of State's “Consular Information Sheet”.) The U.S. Department of the Treasury revised its regulations in February, 1995 to allow Americans to go to North Korea and spend money. (Click on this hyperlink to learn about this “regulation”.) The problem is that since 1995 the North Korean government has only allowed American citizens (other then official delegations) to visit a handful of times. Usually this permission has been for a relatively narrow "window of opportunity" consisting of a few weeks to a month or two, and was given with just a month or slightly more notice. The result was that very few Americans (other than expatriates living in Beijing and some of our nimble staff members) could react in time to make the necessary arrangements to go. This pattern changed in 2006. Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. was given permission from our travel counterparts in Pyongyang (see our “Letter of Commission”) to bring Americans and others to North Korea during the period from August through September. During this period the North Koreans were to stage their famous Arirang mass gymnastics, musical, and artistic performances featuring over 100,000 performers. These performances are truly a unique entertainment experience, one not seen anywhere else in the world. (In some places you will see them referred to as "mass games", but there is no "game" element to them. They are unique mass gymnastic and artistic performances.) Unfortunately, in mid-July, 2006 a severe typhoon struck the Korean peninsula and caused extensive flooding, even in Pyongyang, the site of the Arirang performances. The damage, disruption of normal activities, and hundreds of lives lost forced the North Korean government to cancel all the performances. This meant that no one was allowed to visit the DPRK during the original window of opportunity. Late in the fall of 2006 we received word from our counterparts in Pyongyang that the North Korean government intended to hold the Arirang performances again during two periods in 2007, from mid-April to mid-May, and from mid-August to mid-October. Between March and early May of 2007 we received official permission and were given the details of the 2007 Arirang performances Americans would be allowed to attend. This information was incorporated in various itineraries we offered to potential clients. Fortunately, the weather cooperated better so that in 2007 we were able to take or send a variety of small groups and even an individual (who had visited the DPRK previously) on 4 and 5 day tours. For 2008 we again were able to offer tours of North Korea, but only in the August-September Arirang season. And this year, 2009, we are also authorized to offer tours to the DPRK, but for Americans only during the Arirang season of August-September. For detailed information about these once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences, please click on the "Itineraries" button to the left and view one of the itinerary packets which contain specific tour information, prices, terms and conditons, and visa and reservation forms for each tour (details subject to change). Or, if you want to be added to our contact list, please call us or email us by clicking on the Contact Us button above (or below) and ask to be added to our email notification list. We will keep you informed of our arrangements in the coming months. For non-American passport holders (since you can normally visit the DPRK throughout the year) who want to receive information about other possible dates, itineraries and prices, please also click on our Contact Us button above (or below) and ask to be contacted by email, fax or phone about your specific travel requests, indicating what country you are a national of. Please note that individual travel to the DPRK is not inexpensive as the North Koreans provide two guides, a driver, a private car or van, and deluxe or first-class accommodations for visitors from most Western countries. If it is at all possible we would recommend traveling to the DPRK during one of the Arirang performances since this could involve group travel and group travel prices, plus the opportunity to see a truly unique performance. For overseas Koreans with South Korean passports (as opposed to U.S. or other passports), we have been advised by our contacts in Pyongyang that it is not permissable for them to join our groups. (There is a separate organization in the DPRK that is responsible for "overseas Koreas".) If you have a passport from a country other than South Korea it should be permissible for you to join one of our groups as long as you realize that there is no possibility of contacting and/or seeing any relatives and/or deviating from the group itinerary. We are sorry for this, but it is not our policy. North Korea by the Numbers CAPITAL: Pyongyang (means "flat land," "plain," or "cozy place") AREA: North Korea: 46,541 sq. mi. / 120,540 sq. km. Rank: 99th in World / 22nd in Asia South Korea: 38,023 sq. mi. / 98,480 sq. km. Rank: 109th in World / 23rd in Asia U.S.: 3,717,813 sq. mi. / 9,629,091 sq. km. Rank: 3rd in World ARABLE LAND: North Korea: 21% Rank: 54th in World / 8th in Asia South Korea: 17% Rank: 68th in World / 10th in Asia U.S.: 19% Rank: 61st in World HIGHEST POINT: North Korea: 9,003 ft. / 2,744 m. Rank: 85th in World / 23rd in Asia South Korea: 6,398 ft. / 1,950 m. Rank: 123rd in World / 26th in Asia U.S.: 20,322 ft. / 6,194 m. Rank: 15th in World POPULATION: North Korea: 22,917,177 Rank: 47th in World / 16th in Asia South Korea: 48,142,000 Rank: 24th in World / 10th in Asia U.S.: 295,734,134 Rank: 3rd in World LABOR FORCE: North Korea: 9,600,000 Rank: 45th in World / 19th in Asia South Korea: 22,920,000 Rank: 20th in World / 11th in Asia U.S.: 147,400,000 Rank: 3rd in World LITERACY RATE: North Korea: 99% Rank: 24th in World / 4th in Asia South Korea: 98% Rank: 53rd in World / 7th in Asia U.S.: 97% Rank: 62nd in World Please note that if you would like to see all the photos related to this specific page, please click on the Photo Gallery button in the left panel. The Photo Gallery button will display on a new page all the photos shown in the Flash strip along the top of the page, whether a country, city or attraction page. You can click on any of the thumbnail photos to see a much larger version. |
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